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Clean Slate Ballast Installation Project - T-1200 pumps, all 1" lines

The boat: 2001 MobiusV, 22ft
Old setup: Single Rule 1100 pump, various bags from 400-1100, handheld T-1200 pump
Fill times: Way to freakin long... Like a full half hour to switch surf sides. And a pain in the ass with the handheld setup doing most of the work.

I've been researching and working on this for most of late Winter and early Spring now and have neared completion so it's time to post up the proof. After gutting my old setup the only existing parts I had to work with was a Rule 1100 pump in the bilge area and a switch on the dash that would go away.

I wanted a "turn key" system that would fill and drain fast and at the flip of a switch while we get riders ready, listen to tunes, toss back a few cold frosties, whatever. I also wanted to maximize my wake size for surfing since it's my favorite thing to do on the boat.

With that in mind I started drawing up a bunch of different possibilities and asking questions, looking at other posts, etc. Talked to several of you on here, pinged WakeMakers a few times, got Newty drunk enough to pick his brain for a few hours one night, and finally got it all figured out.

First I started with the existing Rule 1100 pump and ran new 1" fill line up under the floor and out the steering cable hole under the helm. This connects to a 1" vented loop I mounted up as high under the dash as I could.

Then the fill line drops down through a newly cut hole into my basement and angles back to the fill port on top of the bag. My drain line comes off the bottom of the bag directly to a T1200 pump, then along the top edge of the compartment and up under the playpen front seating and then arounder the helm to meet up with the T valve.

I ran my vent line up through another new hole (next to the fill) from the basement into the helm and then into a check valve before tying into the T the drain is connected to. The other end of the T heads to a new 1" stainless thru hull out the side for both the vent/drain exit.

Once my subwoofer is back in place all the stuff up there will be hidden.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

You can sort of see my existing Rule pump buried in there that will be filling the front bag.

For the rear fill pumps I went with a 1" intake to a ball valve to a T fitting, then 1" hose barbs to a very short hunk of hose and right into the Attwood 3902 fittings on the bottom of the Tsunami Pumps. I did a lot of research on this part and as many already know there are no adapters from the T-1200 down to a 1" thread. There is to 3/4" but I didn't want to lose any flow.

Going this route also gave me some flexibility in pushing the pumps around and making them fit but still have a little bit of give.

An important lesson learned here was dealing with the tapered threads on the thru hull intake. I was worried about my pumps sitting too high off the floor and not priming so I decided to take about an inch off the thru hull fitting. The trick is they are a tapered thread so I had to put a taper back on the thru hull in order to get the ball valve to screw onto it. Luckily my neighbor is a plumber and had a mongo pipe thread set and a few beers later we had it! This was a huge delay in progress trying to fix the threads though.

After measuring about 10 times I had roughly a half inch to spare to get my pumps where I wanted them in the cramped bilge space and still be able to move the shutoff handle if I ever needed to.

Time to cut a hole!

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

I drilled a pilot hole from the top down just to make sure I was in the right spot. It turned out to be almost symmetrical with my existing intake for the old Rule 1100 which was nice. I taped over the pilot hole and busted out the hole saw. This is the part where it takes some liquid courage (aka more beer) before you pull the trigger...

But not bad after you're done. I used a fair amount of the marine adhesive on the thru hull going in to ensure a good seal.

Here's what it looks like again with the pumps in place.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

The Attwood 3902 fittings (straight ones below) I mentioned saved me some space and were easier to install than twising a 90 degree elbow on. I could heat up the ballast hose first with a heat gun, lube up the barb fitting a little, and work the hose cleanly on while sitting at my work bench rather than ripping my knuckles apart trying to do it in the compartment with the fitting already on the pump. They are meant for a 1-1/8" ID hose but you can get a 1" hose on them with a little persistance and a good heat gun.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

So now it was time to go from the fill pumps to the vented loops and also where I second guessed myself going with the 1" stuff. Why? The 1" vented loops are freakin huge compared to a 3/4" loop! The one in the front under the helm was pretty easy, but I had a hard time finding a reasonable place to mount them in the back where they would fit and wouldn't be really visible.

I ended up pulling off the fuel filler panel and was able to stuff both the vented loop, one way valve, and fill/vent lines under it. Kind of a pain in the butt but in the end it was concealed and clean. The hoses are all tucked up into the gunwale as far as possible. Thanks to Newty for that tip!

Before-

After-

And all closed up again-

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

Did the same thing on the port side but I don't have a panel to cover it all up on that side - may make one though.

The drains for the rear bags are another T-1200 right off the bag, running parallel to the engine on the sides of the comparment and up to a T-fitting. I have the port side bag venting and draining out the starboard side of the boat and vice versa. The idea here is that when the boat is listing over all loaded up with ballast that my bags are not going to drain out the vent since

it will be on the high side of the boat. The vent lines have a one way check valve in-line before they meet up with the T-fitting and the drain line so no water going back in the bag when they are supposed to be draining.

Couple shots of the drain/fill lines and drain pumps-

That off color gray box is where one of my batteries used to be - also moved during this project up to under the glove box and the second battery from the rear port side as well.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

When it's all buttoned up again the hoses are pretty hidden. I left a good amount of slack in the vent lines to move up and down with the bags as they fill and drain. Same thing with the fill lines in the back. Had to make sure there was nothing for them to get caught up on and no moving parts to rub against when they are rising and falling with the bag.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

Drilling for the stainless thru hulls in the side was a piece of cake. On the starboard side I actually rerouted my bilge line to go next to the ballast and gave it a new 3/4" fitting as well.

It used to run out the back. Now it's all tucked away under the fuel filler panel cover.

My trick for getting the stainless thru hulls nice and tight without marring them all up was to use the handle end of a 1/2" breaker bar. The fittings I got have a couple little teeth on the inside and oblong shape of the handle fit perfectly to hold them in place while I cranked down the jam nut on the inside.

I also used some marine sealant here as well to fill in any gaps under the fittings and the curvature of the hull.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.

I had to figure out what to do with my old thru hulls out the back. After some brilliant suggestions here on the forum I ended up using some marine sealant and some plastic hole plugs, kind of like a grommet for cables in a desk but no hole. They snapped in there pretty good. It will work for now until i come up with a permanent fix.

After doing some hunting around for a switch plate I decided to make my own. Picked up a piece of black textured ABS plastic from a stereo shop and mocked up a layout on the computer. After everything lined up and looked good I cut out the openings with a dremel. I had some ideas of doing backlit LEDs and engraving at a trophy shop but I ended up just wanting it to be functional and done!

I'll have to go to Fedex or a print shop and get some laminated labels made for the rest of it. I want something that will look good and last more than one season of being in the sun.

The years have been kind, it's the weekends that have done the damage.